﻿38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 59 



significance, but to determine their exact bearing is difficult. They 

 may be anthropological in nature, due to admixture of two or more 

 elements outside of the negro, or they may be physiological, con- 

 nected especially with the prevalent defective nutrition in the Oasis. 

 Perhaps they are the complex result of both these factors. Problems 

 like this can usually be solved only by long extended and comparative 

 investigations. 



There are some means of contrasting the stature measurements of 

 the Kharga people with those of the Valley Egyptians. In 1904 E. 

 Chantre published a work on anthropological research in Egypt 1 

 and the following male statures are recorded : 127 Copts — 166.0 cm. ; 

 91 Fellaheen — 168.4 cm - 5 x 34 Bedouins — 167.8 cm. ; and 223 Bedjah 

 (Ababdeh, Barabra, Bichariet) — 167.6 cm. All these means are very 

 perceptibly higher than those of the Kharga natives. Other meas- 

 urements on an extensive series of Egyptians and Soudanese con- 

 scripts have been published by Myers, 2 but as these were men 

 selected for the military on the basis of good stature and strength, 

 their height records are of no value in this connection. 



HEIGHT SITTING 



The actual measurements are given in the following list. They are 

 of less importance than the comparisons to be given later. They 

 give a relatively solid curve of distribution (fig. 3). The extent of 

 variation is slightly higher, when compared to a unit of measurement, 

 than that of the total height of the body. 3 No data on the Valley 

 Egyptians are in this respect available for comparison. 



1 Recherches anthropologiques dans l'Af rique orientale : Egypte. 4 , Lyon, 

 1904. 



2 Myers, Chas. : Contributions to Egyptian Anthropology : Tatuing. Jour- 

 nal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 33, January-June, 1903, pp. 82-89. The 

 Comparative Anthropometry of the most Ancient and Modern Inhabitants. 

 Ibid. Vol. 35, January- June, 1905, pp. 80-91. III. The Anthropometry of the 

 Modern Mahommedans ; IV. The Comparison of the Mahommedans with 

 the Copts and the " Mixed " Group. Ibid. Vol. 36, July-December, 1906, pp. 

 237-271. Contributions to Egyptian Anthropology. Ibid. Vol. 28, January- 

 June, 1908, pp. 99-147. 



3 Variability per centimeter : stature ± 0.073 ) height sitting ± 0.091. 



